


One-shots from the 182 Days of Blues-universe

by the_forgotten_ghost



Series: Tales from the 182 Days of Blues-universe [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Anxiety, Blood, Depression, Dum-E - Freeform, F/M, Humor, Night Terrors, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Scars, Survivor Guilt, Touch-Starved, Trigger Warnings, amputations, flashbacks of past captivities, mentions of:, recovery process, smoothies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2018-11-04 18:27:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10996494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_forgotten_ghost/pseuds/the_forgotten_ghost
Summary: Yeah, hi there!The stories here will most likely vary in lengths, but they will all connect to the same universe as the 182 Days of Blues. I try to make them as chronological as possible, depending how well I will get ideas and inspirations.I would suggest you all heed the warnings if you are sensitive to any of them, I'll try to add the correct warnings either in the summary of the chapter or in the notes-section before the chapter begins.If you folks have any ideas for one-shots/drabbles regarding the story, please, I would love to hear about them more, your feedback gives me life. :)love,ghost[ update 23.03.2018 : new chapter added, I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did when I wrote this! :) ]





	1. Midnight shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for nightmares/terrors, ptsd, survivor guilt (sort of, if you squint enough), panic attack/s and vague flashbacks of past captivities.

Blinking blearily and feeling more than just a little bit sleepy and out of place, Tony lifted his head for an inch or two from his fluffy pillow, wondering as to why he had awakened from his sleep so suddenly. He was about to press his head back against the heavenly softness of his pillow and continue his slumber until it was relatively bright outside, but then he heard the same faint sound again which had stirred him from his sleep in the first place. Tony considered himself as a light sleeper nowadays, meaning that he woke up pretty quickly if he so happened to hear a noise or a sound that he wasn't able to identify instantly. It was something to do with the whole trip to Afghanistan, he assumed, and his constant worrying over Pepper's safety.

The engineer furrowed his brows as he strained his hearing in order to identify the sound better. Then he rolled over onto his other side – whilst being careful in his movements – in order to check on Pepper, who appeared to be sleeping peacefully, to Tony's relief. The brunette rubbed his hands over his face tiredly after rolling onto his back, the quiet rustling of bedsheets being the only sound to be heard at the moment. But just when Tony thought that he should go back to sleep, the sound from earlier sounded again, making him still his hands against his face. He carefully moved them onto the duvet before shifting his body and pushing himself into a sitting position. He tried to be as mindful as he could in all of his movements so that he wouldn't wake up Pepper along the way.

 

”Jarvis?” Tony whispered in the still night air of the master bedroom while looking at the general direction of the closed bedroom door, the only light source against the darkness being the arc-reactor that shone through his dark t-shirt. On his left hand side, on a nightstand, a dim, bluish glow lighted up. Tony picked up his cellphone in order to read the new message:

[ _Sir, it seems that Ms. Sullivan is suffering from a nightmare as we speak._ ]

 

”How long she's been under it?” Tony whispered as he moved carefully to the side of the bed before he lowered his bare feet onto the blush bedside carpet.

[ _Her heart rate spiked up fifteen minutes and forty-five seconds ago, sir. She has been able to awake from her previous nightmares by herself, but this particular one has lasted longer while appearing to be more vivid than any of the others have been so far._ ]

 

Jarvis answered through the phone as Tony got up onto his feet, and after giving a quick glance to the bed and the sleeping red-head there, he started to make his way towards the door.

”She's been seeing them regularly?” Tony asked, his voice still only a whisper as he neared the door. He found and turned the handle in time with Jarvis' answer:

[ _Yes, at least once a night, sometimes more often than that. And after a particularly exhausting nightmare – which she seems to experience in regular basis – she prefers to stay up until she can see the sun ascending above the horizon, only then she might return back to sleep._ ]

 

Tony stepped to the dimly lit hallway, leaving the door only slightly ajar behind him, before heaving a sigh that threatened to turn into a yawn whilst running a hand through his already sleep-tousled hair.

”That bad, huh? Sounds awfully familiar to me.” he said quietly as he started to pad along the hallway towards the door of one of the guest bedrooms.

”Indeed, sir. Her symptoms seem to have several similarities if we compare them to yours, sir, except that I do not believe the cause to be exactly the same.” Jarvis confirmed, and Tony could easily pick up the worry from the A.I.'s voice.

The engineer shuddered at the thought that had found its way into his mind, making the small hairs at the back of his neck bristle up. Tony took a deep breath in order to calm himself down, he was trying _not to_ think further about the one hundred and eighty-two days of which the person currently residing – _healing_ – in one of his guestrooms had to endure, _alone_ , in that cold, dark cell–

”I should have bombed that place into ashes when I had the chance...” Tony muttered bitterly as he stopped to stand behind the closed door of the correct bedroom. He listened quietly for a minute before a heart-wrenching, muffled cry sounded from the inside.

 

”Uh, Jarvis? Any ideas of how I should proceed from here?” Tony asked, feeling unsure of what to do now that he had come this far. He could feel how his own panic was starting to lift up its ugly head inside his mind, and he had to quickly stomp it down before it had the chance to grow stronger. He knew that if he would let his panic evolve into a full-blown attack, he wouldn't be able to help anyone, including himself, while being in that state.

”According to the Internet's extensive database regarding the subject in hand, it is _not_ recommended to wake someone when they are experiencing a nightmare. _However_ , if the nightmare is severe enough to cause damage to the person or those around, waking up the person is highly recommended.” Jarvis listed the options, making Tony feel even more worried and anxious.

”Right... uh, that really didn't help any.” he muttered, still standing behind the door. He absentmindedly started to chew on his lower lip while shifting his stance from one feet to another, but when yet another broken sob drifted through the door, he suddenly knew _exactly_ what he had to do:  
”Jarvis, I'm gonna go in there, I just can't let her suffer this through alone.”

”Very well, sir.” Jarvis answered just when Tony turned the doorhandle.

 

The room was completely dark, Tony observed, and the implication send yet another shiver up to his spine, making him push the door all the way open.

”Jarvis, turn on the lights to the medium setting, please.” Tony whispered as he stood on the doorway, looking like a deer caught in the headlights as he tried to blink away the darkness while at the same time, he tried to pinpoint the whereabouts of the furniture placed inside that particular guestroom.

The lights brightened gradually, and now, Tony was able to actually _see_ into the room. The king-sized bed was pretty easy to locate, it being the biggest object in the room, but that was not the point. The point was that it was _empty_.

 

Tony stepped fully into the room, feeling how his stomach dropped a couple of inches whilst his heart jumped all the way up to his throat.

”Kira?” Tony called quietly from his spot, his feet refusing to move him any further. He was slipping into the panic mode scarily fast, and it became apparent to him just _how close_ he had been it when a broken gasp sounded from the floor next to the bed.

”Kira!” Tony let out a frantic gasp himself, his body finally responding to the orders of his brains. He hurried to the other side of the bed in a flash before dropping onto his knees next to the shaking body of a woman.

She was curled up into a fetal position, her muscles tense and trembling, one corner of the thick duvet laying partly against her hips as her back was pressed against the side of the bed. Tony hesitated for a couple of seconds during which time he wrung his hands together, feeling unsure of how to proceed. He had never witnessed anything like this, thus his otherwise genius brains were unable solve the situation that was currently happening right before his eyes.

”Uh, Kira, um, can you hear me?” Tony tried as he slowly extended his right hand towards the woman in question. She inhaled sharply while still being in a deep state of the dream, yet Tony kept up the hope that she could hear him through her nightmare.

 

Just when Tony's hand lightly touched Kira's left forearm, she jolted from the floor with a sharp gasp, her body landing into a half sitting position, her back pressed tightly against the padded side of the bed. Her breathing was labored as she stared at Tony with wide eyes, her hands being raised in front of her in an obvious attempt to fend off anyone who was trying to harm her.

Great amount of regret and guilt was coursing through Tony's veins for waking up his friend so abruptly, and he tried to show her that he was not a threat by holding his hands palms up and aimed so that she could see them easily. He had already backed away from her when she had jolted awake, her abrupt awakening had managed to startle him quite a bit (not that he would _ever_ admit it to her, he didn't want her to feel bad about anything that she had done unintentionally).

”Uh, sorry to wake you up so suddenly, Kira, I didn't mean to scare you, I swear.” Tony talked with what he _hoped_ was a calm voice whilst being the target of her undivided attention.

”Jarvis said that you were having a nightmare, so, uh, that's the only reason I am here. You are safe now, no-one's gonna hurt you here, I promise.” Tony continued talking despite the fact that he hadn't gotten any kind of response back from his conversation partner.

 

The situation started to unwind when Kira blinked once, then twice, before her brows furrowed slightly. She lowered her hands a fraction before she subconsciously took a deeper inhale, and she asked, uncertainty evident in her voice:  
”I'm not, uh, t-trapped in our Toyota?”

Tony's breathing halted for a second, and he had to swallow before he was able to answer:  
”No, uh, you are not, and, um, it's eight of September, two thousand and ten. You are in Malibu, California, have been since August, actually.”

Kira blinked again and _then_ she looked around herself.

”Malibu? S-so you say that I'm n-not in Texas?” she asked after her gaze fell back onto Tony, and when he nodded an affirmative, her memory came crashing back:  
”I _am_ in M-Malibu... _Jesus_...”

After that, she muttered something unintelligible under her breath whilst her face was buried into her hands, and Tony felt that he could finally lower his hands down, seeing that she was starting to understand her whereabouts a little bit better again.

 

”Yeah...” Tony hummed quietly, his hands now resting on his knees – which, by-the-way, were still bend under him –, the unmistakable feeling of numbness starting to spread in both of his legs the longer he stayed still. A silent minute passed before Tony heard a shuddering sigh, making him avert his attention back to the other person inside the room.

Kira had lowered her hands from her face, they were now wrapped around her legs as she sat in a curled up position, her now sad and distressed-looking eyes averted onto the hardwood floor.

”I, uh, I'm sorry t-to wake you up, T-Tony.” she said quietly in which Tony immediately responded:  
”You have done nothing wrong, honey.”

Kira's eyes started to glisten with unshed tears, and Tony found himself reaching towards her without a second thought. Her now wide-eyed attention snapped back onto Tony, and a flinch that she couldn't restrain made her body move away from his touch.

”Shit! I am so sorry, I didn't mean to startle you! I forgot – I'm sorry, Kira.” Tony apologized immediately while holding his hands up again as he backed away to his previous place. Kira squeezed her eyes shut as she took a couple of deep breaths through her nose, stuttering out a:  
”It's – it's okay, I, uh, I'm just – it's just, _so long_ s-since anyone has t-tried to comfort m-me. I'm s-sorry.”

 

Tony felt utterly helpless, it was heartbreaking to hear something like that from someone you cared for so deeply.

”You have nothing to apologize, Kira; you have done nothing wrong.” Tony tried to console her again, and this time, she nodded slightly. Another minute passed in silence, during which time Kira chewed her lower lip whilst trying to build up some of her dissipated courage, while Tony tried to move his feet in order to alleviate the numbness in his lower limbs.

Kira unwrapped her hands from around her legs before wringing them in her lap for a couple of seconds. She took a deep breath before hesitatingly extending her left hand towards Tony.

”If – if you want, uh, and th-there's really n-no need, but if – if you _want to_ , you, um, you can h-hold my hand f-for a while.” Kira said quietly, her gaze moving from her extended hand to Tony and back again. Tony nodded and started to inch himself closer before stopping at arm's reach. He then extended his right hand towards Kira's left one, but he didn't touch her yet, leaving the final decision to her. She took a deep breath before pushing her hand into his. Tony gave her a wide smile at her brave effort before he took a proper hold of her hand, keeping the pressure gentle and reassuring the whole time. Kira gave him a wavering smile of her own, and after a while, she started to feel more relaxed at the situation.

 

”Do you want to talk about your dream?” Tony asked when they had been holding hands for a couple of minutes. Kira sighed tiredly, her hand squeezing at Tony's a little bit more firmly.

”I... n-not right now. M-maybe later w-when I have had t-the time to process a-all of this.” Kira said after a while.

”No pressure, there's no need to talk if you don't want to, you do what you find comfortable, Kira.” Tony said and she nodded.

”Okay.” she managed to say before a sudden yawn literally shook her entire body.

”Would you like to try sleeping again? Or would you prefer watching some TV at the living room?” Tony asked as he let her pull her hand back to herself so that she could rub at her eyes properly.

”TV s-sounds good.” Kira answered a little bit timidly, and Tony gave her an easy smile.

”Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's a marathon of Mythbusters going on as we speak.” he said as he tried to haul himself up from the floor. Kira was the first one up, though, and she paused her movements when she noticed how Tony was still sitting on the floor. Her hands were wringing themselves again – the action being undoubtedly a subconscious one – as she looked at Tony quizzically.

 

”Uh, my feet kind of fell asleep, that's all.” the engineer admitted with a grin as he finally managed to stand up onto his wobbly, numb feet. Kira nodded sympathetically before saying quietly:  
”I-I know the feeling a-also. It, uh, it doesn't f-feel nice.”

”Tell me about it.” Tony hummed as he tried to shake both of his legs in order to get the blood circulating again. The tingling sensation came crashing in, and he had to grit his teeth together in order to stop the swear from escaping.

”So, the TV?” Tony managed to say after a while when the tingling had finally subsided. Kira mumbled a quiet ´yeah´ as she turned and grabbed her duvet from the bed before folding and carrying it in her arms.

”Say, did you hurt yourself when you dropped from your bed?” Tony asked when they had reached the doorway, Kira walking a couple of steps ahead of him.

”I don't think I-I did. At least, I – I don't feel a-any pain.” she answered quietly after a beat, undoubtedly assessing her body's sensations inside her mind.

”Well, that's good to hear.” Tony said, his voice equally quiet now that they were moving along the hallway towards the living room.

”Yeah, s-small blessings.” Kira said as she passed the door to the master bedroom. It was still slightly ajar, and Tony paused before he opened the door so that he could peek inside. Pepper seemed to be still sleeping, and what Tony could tell in the dim light that shone from the doorway, she had conquered the whole bed with her lithe frame like the queen she was (to him, at least).

 

Tony smiled affectionately before he closed the door fully. The two of them then continued their journey all the way down to the living room. Once in there, Kira went to sit on the left corner of the large couch whilst Tony walked next to the TV. He grabbed the remote under it after he had turned it on before he started to make his way towards the couch.

”Would you mind if I stayed here, with you? I can – of course – go back to my room, but Pepper has kind of claimed the whole bed to herself, so...” Tony asked when he stopped to stand next to the couch, the hand holding the remote gesticulating in the air as he talked.

”N-no, uh, you can s-stay, I don't m-mind.” Kira said quietly before she continued whilst shifting the duvet better onto her body:  
”I – I could use s-some company, to be h-honest.”

Tony nodded before he pointed at the other corner of the couch:  
”May I sit there? I can also go and sit on one of the armchairs too, if you want.”

”No, it's okay.” Kira said as she pulled her legs under the duvet whilst resting her left side against the armrest. Tony nodded once before he sat onto his designated place on the couch.

”So, Mythbusters?” he asked as he started to navigate through the many channels of the TV, hearing a quiet ´sounds good t-to me´ from next to him.

 

It was a late dawn when Pepper exited from her and Tony's shared bedroom. She was still dressed in her night pajamas when she started her journey towards the downstairs kitchen. She had awakened alone, but that wasn't entirely uncommon since she knew that Tony was a restless sleeper, often leaving the bed when the sleep abandoned him in the middle of the night. Pepper knew to start looking for him from either the garage or from his workshop, because, in nine times out of ten, Tony could be found sleeping on one of the worn down couches he kept in both places.

When Pepper reached the bottom of the stairs, something told her to continue towards the living room. She walked in there silently before she stopped to look at the view.

The living room was heavily dimmed, the TV was turned off and on the couch in front of the screen, two figures were sleeping soundly. Well, that wasn't entirely true, since Tony was snoring quietly while being sprawled on his back so that his right hand had dropped to the floor whilst his left one was resting on a thick duvet which covered him all the way up to his arc-reactor. Kira, on the other hand, was sleeping on her left side, her head resting on the armrest while being covered with the duvet almost completely.

Pepper resisted the laugh that threatened to escape, but she wasn't even trying to hold back the fond smile that fell onto her face. She let the two of them sleep as she turned on her heels before heading towards the kitchen, like she was supposed to do originally.

They were going to be alright, Tony and Kira, it would take some time and trust from all of them, but eventually, they were going to survive.

She was sure of that.


	2. Like a glove (and a ¾ inch wrench)

A continuous stream of ingenious (well, _of course_ they were ingenious) swears flowed from the hunched over figure who was, at the moment, trying to fit a _highly irritating_ , miniscule-sized screw back into its designated hole so that the currently malfunctioning piece of shi– _machinery_ might just start working again.

And what was the worst part of what _should have been_ an easy, walk-in-the-park kind of project to someone like _Tony_ effing _Stark_ , was that he had to turn down his music so that he could concentrate better.

He, _Tony Stark_ , the genius, billionaire, (former) playboy, philanthropist, had to _voluntarily_ turn down his goddamn music.

Just, _unbelievable_.

 

”C'mon, _work_ , you little piece of–” Tony groaned loudly, feeling more and more frustrated when the aforementioned screw slipped past the hole where it _should have_ fit instead, the tip of the equally tiny screwdriver hitting the painted surface of the right hand glove of his Iron Man armor that he was _trying_ to fix. The engineer's stream of cursing was cut short abruptly by Jarvis' alert:  
”Sir, Ms. Kira has come to visit you.”

The sudden announcement managed to startle Tony (not that he would _ever_ admit it to anyone), thus it was a small miracle that he was able to catch the small tool before it would have dropped from his hands and onto the cluttered workbench that he was occupying at the moment. Admittedly, it was an unexpected happenstance that his new friend slash adopted sister had come all the way down to his workshop to visit him, _alone_ , since Tony had noticed fairly early that she was tailing Pepper pretty closely every time they decided to visit him together. So, in conclusion, though Kira's presence was unexpected, it was by no means unwelcomed, thus Tony was quick to swivel his wheeled chair around in order to greet his visitor properly.

”Uh, hi Kira.” he greeted with a smile while hoping to _god_ that she hadn't heard his rather long and imaginative profanities he had projected to the glove earlier, knowing (and remembering) that his cursing could accidentally bring back unwanted memories from that god-forsaken place. And by thinking back of just _how_ imaginative his choice of wording had been only a couple of minutes ago, Tony felt how the back of his neck was starting to heat up slightly. His free hand found its way to scratch at the back of his head in a nervous manner, and he hoped that the smile on his face would make his friend feel more at ease if she really _had heard_ his (un)intelligible shouting.

 

And speaking of his friend slash sister, Kira was wearing the same white sweater Pepper had given her the day they first met, Tony observed. She had pulled both her hands inside the only slightly too long sleeves, her fingers making small yet constant movements against each others while she kept her hands nearly pressed against her stomach region. She had comfortable looking, grey colored pants on which appeared to be meant for jogging or running, but hey, who even wears them exclusively for that purpose anyway?, the genius mused.

Next, Tony's attention went all the way down to her feet which were clad in black, sneaker-type shoes, and it was _that_ fact right there that told Tony that she _had_ purposefully wandered all the way down to his workshop, since he knew she liked to wear socks whilst walking around the mansion. Tony got a nasty feeling in his gut that suggested that it was something to do with the time she had spend captured, and he was a one hundred percent certain that she had spend nearly all of that time more or less barefooted.

 

”H-hi Tony.” Kira said, offering a timid smile to the man in question. The way she was standing told Tony that she was feeling nervous, but he had no good idea just _how_ nervous she truly felt.

”So, uh, what brings you into my humble lair of science, Kira?” Tony asked after he had tossed the screwdriver next to the glove and after he had turned back to face the other. The fidgeting of her fingers increased slightly whilst her shoulders hiked upwards about half an inch. She started to chew on her lower lip as her eyes scanned the general area of the workshop, effectively pinpointing the whereabouts of Tony's many robots.

”Umm... I, uh, I guess n-nothing in particular. It's just, uh, that it's – it's raining pretty heavily and - and Jarvis said th-that there's a change of thunder and lightning w-within the next hour and a h-half so, um...” her fidgeting only increased the longer she talked, her stammer worsening when she tried to get the words out of her mouth. And now she was taking deep breaths in order to calm herself down, and that was when Tony decided he had to do something, and _fast_ :  
”So you figured you could wait out the storm down here where there are fewer windows since this place is – _literally_ – carved inside the bedrock?”

Tony spoke calmly, drawing Kira's attention back to him from where it had previously been; she had been following one of the robots with her gaze as it was trying to use the blender machine back at the small kitchen area. She gave Tony a nervous nod while chewing at her lower lip at the same time, and that was when the things decided to go south in the kitchen area; the robotic arm-thing called Dum-E had turned on the blender without the cap on top of it, effectively repainting the whole area with green, liquid-kind substance. Tony whirled around in a flash when he understood what was happening behind his back.

 

”Good _God_ , Dummy! Do that _one more time_ and I swear to _God_ I will disassemble you and sell you to a scrap yard!” Tony yelled to the poor robot who had the decency to look like it was sorry for the mess. The genius sighed heavily before rubbing at his face with both of his hands as he turned back to face his friend.

”Sorry about that, Dummy is an ass _who doesn't know how to make a damn smoothie properly!_ ” Tony apologized to Kira, aiming the last part to the robot in question whilst only bothering to yell at the thing over his shoulder. A small smile grazed at Kira's lips minutely before her nervousness wiped it away from her face.

”Uh, so...” she hedged around the subject and Tony was quick to deliver his assurance:  
”I am more than happy to have you here with me!”

The genius continued after noticing Kira's slightly skeptical and a little bit startled expression:  
”I wouldn't like to be left alone either when a thunderstorm is rolling in and, y'know, Pepper's gonna be back late this evening, her meeting's gonna end around seven –”

”Actually, it appears that her meeting is rescheduled to end closer to eight tonight, sir.” Jarvis informed both of them. Tony was silent for a heartbeat before he nodded, saying:  
”Ah, okay. So she's gonna be back around nine, maybe nine thirty, depends on how fast Happy will be able to drive and how much traffic there is at that time... but anyway. You're always welcomed in here, Kira, and you're always free to leave whenever you feel like it, no questions asked.”

She nodded at that, murmuring a quiet ”Okay. Thanks.” before she fell silent again.

”Yeah, so, if you want to, you could grab a chair and make yourself comfortable while I try to piece this thing back together, see if it works any better than _before_ I blew it into atoms.” Tony spoke while first gesturing towards an office chair not far from Kira's left side before gesturing at the glove sitting on the workbench next to himself. She looked to her left before making her way to the mentioned chair. Tony gave her a smile before turning back towards the glove. He heard a quiet sound coming from there where Kira went, indicating that she had sat down onto the cushioned furniture.

 

Fifteen minutes and some odd seconds went by in relative silence, during which time the genius had tried (and failed) to fit back together pieces of the disassembled glove while Kira had been watching the robot called Dum-E (or Dummy, because, y'know, he was one if we're being honest here) with keen eyes. The robot had been trying to clean up the mess as best as it could, taking in notion that it only had one claw to which it used fairly clumsily.

”Uh, Tony?” Kira – while being unable to watch the scene unfold silently for a second longer – broke the hush, a certain urgency ringing in her voice. Dummy had finished his pitiful attempt at cleaning up the mess, and was apparently about to create _another one_ if the frantic movement of its claw was any indicator. Tony – whilst still being oblivious about what was soon to happen – turned to look at Kira questioningly:  
”Yeah?”

She pointed her right hand towards the kitchen, her eyes widening with growing nervousness:  
”Um, your robot's g-gonna make another smoothie, I th-think.”

Tony's eyes went comically wide before he swirled himself to face the kitchen and the soon-to-be disaster-zone no:2.

”Dummy, _no!_ ” the genius barked loudly, managing to unintentionally startle his guest. Surprisingly, the robot dropped (quite literally...) what it was doing, the cap of the blender machine clanking against the counter before dropping down onto the nearby sink. The claw then opened and closed several times while the robot made almost wondering sounds as it turned to face Tony. The genius then pointed his hand towards one of the walls before saying:  
”Go back to your charging station you dummy before I turn you into a wine rack!”

 

The robot then lowered its claw in shame before starting to make its way – slowly – to there where Tony pointed while making pitiful little sounds as it moved. Kira couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for the poor thing, it had only tried to help its creator the best it was able to with its limited set of abilities.

After the robot had found its charging dock, Tony heaved out a tired sigh before standing up from his chair, muttering quietly under his breath. He took a good look at the kitchenette before he sighed again while shaking his head in defeat.

”Unbelievable...” Tony muttered again as he facepalmed himself, and with a groan, he started to make his way towards the (disaster zone) small kitchen. Kira was still sitting on her chair as she watched silently how Tony first rolled the sleeves of his dark, band-themed shirt higher before taking the dishcloth from around the faucet before dampening it with warm water. By the time the engineer had squished the cloth dryer, Kira's nervousness had evolved into a more restless kind of fidgeting, and she asked, after seeing how Tony had started to wipe down the mess from the counter top rather meticulously:  
”Uh, um, do you – do you need help w-with that?”

 

The engineer turned to look at his guest, the hand that held the dishcloth slowing down a fraction:  
”Thanks for the offer, Kira, but I think I can handle this by myself, since, y'know, this isn't the first time Dummy has managed to make a mess in the kitchen, _sadly_.”

Tony said with a smile and Kira nodded quietly. Then Tony noticed how much her fingers were fidgeting on her lap as both her sleeves had hiked a little bit upwards, exposing her hands to the fluorescent lights of his workshop. Tony stopped what he was doing before scratching his beard with his free hand, his other hand resting against the counter and the damp cloth.

”But, if you really _feel like_ you want to help, there's this one thing you _could_ do; I remember that there should be a container in the fridge packed with enough ingredients for another patch of smoothie; if you could take it out and put it on the counter when I have cleaned it up? That would be helpful.” Tony talked and grinned at the expression that dawned on Kira's face at the mention that she could do _something_ , being it actually useful or not, while staying in Tony's workshop.

”Yeah, I-I can do that.” she said, sounding eager as she stood up from her chair. Tony nodded with a smile before continuing his cleaning task so that the counter would be clean (enough) by the time when Kira brings out the container.

 

Kira made her way towards the kitchen all the while keeping her hands close to her middle region more or less self-consciously so that she wouldn't accidentally sweep anything down from the many workbenches she happened to pass on her way. Once she reached her destination, she opened the fridge and scanned the contents of the cooling appliance carefully with her sharp eyes before she reached her hands inside and pulled out a clear plastic container filled with something green and leafy.

”Uh, is it this one?” Kira asked as she turned to face Tony, her eyes examining the rectangular box for hints. Tony turned to look at her and once his eyes landed onto the object she was holding, he answered:  
”Yeah, that's the one, thanks honey.”

Tony gave her an encouraging smile and she smiled a little too. After closing the fridge's door, Kira waited for Tony to finish with the cleaning, and she didn't have to wait for too long before he announced he was done with the task:  
”There! If only Pepper would be here now to see how clean this place looks like, she would be so proud, I'd bet.”

”Would you like me to send Ms. Potts the video of you cleaning the counter top, sir?” Jarvis asked with a hint of humor in his voice, effectively making Tony snort in amusement, though he still replied to the A.I.:  
”Might as well do that if you really have the evidence of it, J.”

”Consider it done, sir.” Jarvis said before falling silent again. Tony rolled his eyes at the ceiling before he remembered as to why he cleaned the counter in a first place:  
”Oh, yeah, the smoothie.”

He then turned to face Kira and the container – which she was still carrying in her hands – and asked:  
”Would you like to drink some _ridiculously healthy_ smoothie with me after it's ready to be consumed?”

 

Kira – after memorizing how the first patch of smoothie looked like – put on a brave face and said, with only slightly wavering smile:  
”Yeah, uh, sure, it, um, it looked... good, I guess – I mean, if it would be in a proper glass and n-not all over the places.”

”Yeah, it doesn't look like it tastes good – or edible, for that matter – but when you get used to the taste, it tastes surprisingly good, I swear.” Tony talked, grinning, as he put away the dishcloth before taking the plastic container from Kira when she offered it to him. She made a noncommittal sound as she watched how Tony exposed the ingredients to the both of them by removing the lid. And while the genius busied himself with the smoothie (i.e. dumping everything from the not-Tupperware-container into the blender machine before adding some orange juice into the mix), his guest busied herself by staying a ´safe´ distance away from the whole operation so that she wouldn't be on his way when he moved around the kitchenette.

Tony was humming one of his favourite rock n' roll songs under his breath as he flipped the machine on (the cap pressed _securely_ against the opening), and it didn't take long for the blender to finish its job; the smoothie was done in less than a minute (with thanks to Tony and his passion to upgrade the living hell out of everything he ever encounters, _sigh_ ).

”So, would you like to have some, Kira?” Tony asked after he turned off the blender and was busy fishing out two glasses from the nearby cupboard. The woman in question bit her lower lip minutely before answering, her right hand fingers rubbing over her left hand knuckles as her hands were situated back to her stomach region once again:  
”I... yeah, I could try it, thanks.”

 

Tony flashed her a smile as he dislodged the blending container from its base and started pouring the green, _supposedly healthy_ , substance into the two tall glasses. He placed the jug on the counter before taking both glasses into his hands and offering one of them to his guest:  
”Here you go, honey.”

She accepted the drink with a small smile and a quiet ´thanks´ as she wrapped both her hands around the cool object.

”Oh, and, you know, you don't have to force yourself to drink it if you don't like the taste, okay?” Tony reminded Kira once again about the subject while giving her a reassuring look over his glass before he took a sip of the smoothie. Kira nodded silently before lifting the glass onto her lips and taking a small sip of the liquid. She blinked in (relieved) surprise, a small smile tugging at a corner of her mouth.

Tony grinned happily at her expression as he emptied his glass, yet he opted to stay silent as he turned in order to refill his glass. Kira took a bigger sip before saying:  
”This is r-really good, Tony.”

”I'm glad to hear that, thanks, K.” the genius said with a smile before continuing:  
”Would you like to have some more before I put this in the fridge?”

Tony pointed the glass container sitting on the counter with his refilled glass and when Kira answered ´m-maybe later, thanks.´, he nodded before going through the action of placing the jug into the fridge before resuming his position next to the sink.

 

The duo finished their drinks in comfortable silence, both being completely unaware of the fact that the thunderstorm had already rolled in and was beating the mansion, and everything around it, with heavy droplets of water.

Tony, after offering to take Kira's glass from her, rinsed both of their empty glasses before placing them into the sink. He let out a sigh before running his right hand through his hair before turning to face his guest.

”Well, I guess I need to return to the glove again if I ever want to get it finished, sorry. I'm not sure if there's anything down here that you might find interesting, Kira, so, um, sorry about that, too.” Tony said as he scratched the back of his neck while looking at his guest guiltily. Kira shrugged her shoulders, her hands back at their previous position now that she wasn't holding anything, her head bowed down a fraction when she offered:  
”I uh, well, if – if it's not a bother, I-I could observe w-what you are doing, m-maybe?”

”Well _of course_ you can watch what I am doing, Kira! And you are definitely _not_ a bother to me, at all.” Tony was quick to deliver his answer, his whole face lighting up instantly at her request.

”And, y'know, if you think there's an error of any kind happening while I work, _please_ , do not hesitate pointing it out to me, it could save me a heck of a lot of time and effort, trust me, honey.” Tony continued after he noticed the almost _agonizingly_ hopeful look on Kira's face, and he went as far in his attempt at reassuring her that he gave her left shoulder a quick as well as light squeeze with his right hand whilst not knowing if she appreciated or even liked his gesture.

This time, however, Kira didn't flinch when she was touched without getting a heads-up first, and frankly, she felt as surprised as Tony looked like when the whole thing was over.

”I will, thanks, Tony.” Kira said with a bright, genuine smile. Tony had a relieved-kind of smile on his face when he gestured she should lead the way:  
”Right, okay, well, ladies first, then.”

 

Kira left out a quiet laugh at that, effectively surprising both of them in the process. Tony hadn't heard her laugh properly the whole time she had been under his wings, she had smiled more or less tentatively numerous times, but letting out an actual laugh? Anyway, this was the first time Tony had heard her laugh, and he made a mental note to _casually ask_ Pepper if they shared a good laugh whenever they were spending some time together, knowing that Kira seemed to feel more comfortable to lower down her guards when Pepper was around.

Tony followed Kira's lead while making sure that he stayed a couple of feet behind her in order to give her some space and allowing her to walk with her own pace. Kira stopped briefly at the end of the workbench before making a quick decision to walk around the table so that she would be situated at the opposite side of Tony and his workstation. Tony, on the other hand, returned to his own place, but before he let himself get immersed into his work, he took a quick and subtle look of his guest, who was, at the moment, moving the chair she had found from underneath the table so that she could sit down on it. The engineer smiled warmly before letting out a quiet sigh, and by lowering his gaze and attention down onto the glove once again, Tony slipped back into his work mode within minutes.

 

* * *

After an indeterminate amount of time had passed in relative silence, Tony had _finally_ managed to fit the tiny little screw back into its rightful place, but his happiness was short lived when he moved to the next piece and soon found out it didn't fit in its slot either. The engineer groaned loudly, both of his hands covering his entire face when he leaned back tiredly in his chair.

” _Why_ isn't it fitting back like it's supposed to... _Unbelievable_...” Tony groaned out, his whole posture slumped down with annoyance and exhaustion.

”Um, can I – can I try?” Tony dropped his hands down at the sound of Kira's quiet, hesitant question. When he blinked and looked straight into her bright grey eyes, he suddenly felt even more tired than before.

”Sure, of course, knock yourself out.” Tony answered as he moved to stand from his chair, flashing a tired smile at the other when she did the same and moved to Tony's side of the table. Tony himself made sure that he wasn't hoovering too close to her because he didn't want to crowd her and make her feel uncomfortable.

”So, um, there?” Kira said, sounding a bit unsure after she had sat down on Tony's chair and had taken the small piece of metal between her right hand fingers before angling the said piece with astonishing precision into its rightful little slot with just _one_ try.

Tony stared at her silently for a long moment as he was rendered speechless for what had to be the first time in recorded history, and when Kira started to fidget in her chair more noticeably, her now worried gaze going back to the glove, the genius broke out of his stupor.

”Uh, how did you just _do_ that?” Tony asked, blinking, as his brains tried to comprehend about what just happened. Kira started to fidget with her free hands once again, giving Tony a shrug and a murmured ´I don't know´, her eyes focusing onto anything else _except_ the man standing awestruck next to her.

 

Tony _finally_ noticed Kira's obvious discomfort after her response registered in his head, and immediately he kicked himself mentally for making her feel like she had done something wrong.

”No, uh, Kira, _you haven't done anything wrong_ , please, trust me, honey. It's just that I feel _amazed_ about what you just did, I have never seen anyone do something like that with the accuracy you just exhibited, Kira. It's remarkable. _You_ are remarkable, honey.” Tony spoke with what he _hoped_ sounded reassuring to the other all the while gesticulating with his hands in a slightly nervous manner.

It was Kira's turn to blink, and she lifted her eyes from the glove to look at Tony, her expression showing a mixture of reserved hopefulness sprinkled with surprise and wonder.

”Oh... uh, thanks, Tony.” she managed to say after a couple of heartbeats, and she turned to look at the glove again, a wide smile and a dusting of pink gracing her features. Then the genius made a split second decision to test his luck for the second time in one day; he took a small step towards Kira and reached his left hand towards her right shoulder this time, and, by keeping his touch almost feather-light so that he wouldn't accidentally hurt her, patted her shoulder twice before retracting his hand back to himself.

 

Kira _did_ feel that something touched her bad shoulder despite the scar tissue and the metal that coated over sixty percent of her shoulder area, and she lifted her head to look at Tony questioningly. He immediately turned his palms towards her in a placating gesture as he started to (ramble) explain nervously:  
”Sorry, I should have asked if you wanted to be touched, I didn't mean to hurt you, I swear, I only wanted to uh, encourage you and –”

”I-I get it, Tony, you uh, you didn't hurt me, okay? So, uh, you can c-calm down, I-I'm not mad.” Kira hurried to say, blurting the words out so fast that it took a fraction of a second from Tony to actually _process_ what it was that she just said to him. He lowered down his hands slowly while carefully examining her expression for any signs of discomfort.

”Oh, um, that's good, right?” the genius asked, the ´are you sure?´ visible in his cautious tone. Kira nodded slightly and reached her left hand onto her bad shoulder – her right hand supporting her left elbow while she was at it – and as she went and very gently massaged the general area of her shoulder with her fingertips, she started to speak with surprising ease:  
”There's still _some_ sense of touch left where the s-skin's intact and not covered in scar t-tissue, but there where you touched, well, that's where the h-heavy scarring is located, so... I dunno, it just, I can feel _slight_ pressure but not much else in th-that area. It doesn't hurt me anymore, hasn't done s-so in a long time, actually.”

Tony listened quietly and attentively, and when she rolled her shoulder a few times before lowering her hands onto her lap, giving him a half a shrug using her better shoulder in that motion, he nodded slowly, murmuring:  
”I see...”

”Yeah... so, uh, all is g-good for as long no-one's gonna, y'know, _h-hit it with force_ , I guess.” Kira said with a mirthless little smile, and Tony suspected that there had been at least one person who had done her just that in the past, and that thought alone was able to anger the genius. He had to calm himself down mentally before asking, sounding completely serious as he looked Kira in the eye:  
”So, then, uh, would it be alright to pat your back slash shoulder encouragingly and or in friendly manner if that kind of occasion arises?”

 

Kira considered the question for a couple of heartbeats before answering:  
”I think I would l-like that, Tony.”

This time the smile on her face was the usual shy one she so often showed, a kind of infectious one that always managed to form a wide grin on everyone's face whenever they saw her smile. A comfortable silence fell between the two after that, yet it was short lived because of Jarvis' announcement:  
”Ms. Potts has asked me to inform both of you that she is on her way home, her estimated time of arrival should be within the next thirty-five to forty-five minutes due to the traffic on the main road as well as the occurring weather conditions.”

The duo changed worried looks and it was Tony who voiced his concern for both of their behalf:  
”So the storm is really that bad outside, huh?”

”According to the data, the actual thunder seems to have ceased for the moment, but the rainfall has only just reached its peak and should start to weaken within the next twenty minutes, sir, miss.” Jarvis responded, making both Tony and Kira sigh with relief.

”That's good, thanks, Jarvis. Oh, and inform both of us if the storm takes a dip to the worse, okay?” Tony said and the A.I. responded with a ´of course, sir.´ before falling silent again. Kira left out a silent sigh before turning her eyes back to the glove.

”You know, if you want to, you can tinker with the glove while I run a diagnostic scan on the Mark VI, see if there's something I can do to improve its features any further.” Tony spoke and first pointed at the glove before gesturing the whole Iron Man suit hanging from chains not far from the workbench.

”Alright, I-I can do that.” Kira responded and watched as Tony moved closer to the suit after giving her a smile before she, too, turned her focus onto the task she was more than happy to conduct.

 

A long moment passed by in comfortable, work-filled silence, both of the duo concentrating in their respective works, but then Kira ran into a problem that she wasn't able to solve in her own.

”Um, Tony? C-can you take a look of t-this?” she asked as she moved her chair a little bit further from the workbench before turning to address the other. Tony hummed before looking up from the StarkPad™ that he was currently using before placing the device onto the nearest table altogether when he noticed that Kira was having a problem at her workstation.

”Sure thing, K.” the genius said before moving to stand next to the workbench. Kira pointed at the different pieces of metal and the glove as she started to list all the problems she had encountered, ending her presentation with a:  
”– so, yeah, it w-would be almost easier to just remake the w-whole glove at this point, I'd g-guess.”

Kira waited for Tony to say something, her nervousness starting to rise again after she had pointed out the flaws of the glove to its more-than-capable maker. She started to chew on her lower lip out of habit as she turned her eyes to look at the aforementioned piece of armory instead of the man standing next to her who seemed to be lost in thought as he stroked his styled beard with one hand as the other had found its way to rest against his hip.

”You know... that's not a bad idea, at all.” Tony murmured slowly when he stopped the hand that was messing with his beard, letting it drop onto the table so that he could lean himself against the furniture. Kira lifted her eyes to look at Tony, and he continued:  
”I was in a hurry when I first made this suit so it's bound to have few errors here and there and it would actually be a hell of a good idea to build the whole glove from scratch again, if I had the time, that is.”

”Oh, okay.” Kira said while nodding her head slightly.

”Actually, it would be _even better_ idea if _you_ could build a new glove, Kira, since you obviously have a very strong knack in you when it comes to tinkering with this sort of technology.” Tony talked as he eyed at the glove before he turned his gaze onto the brilliant woman sitting on the chair who now stared at him while looking kind of dumbfounded.

 

”Uh, what?” she managed to ask, making Tony smile at her expression.

”I am asking you if you wanted – and if you had the time – to make a better version of the Mark VI glove for my behalf since I'm more than _sure_ that you have the talent to do just that, Kira.” Tony talked and grinned a little bit wider when Kira blinked as if she still couldn't believe he actually offered something like that to her, and she opened her mouth to say something before shutting it again after a heartbeat. She started to rub at the knuckles of her left hand with her right hand again without thinking and after a short moment, she nodded slowly, going:  
”Um, okay... if-if you are sure...”

”I am, and I truly meant what I said about you, honey.” Tony said earnestly after detecting the slight doubtfulness in Kira's voice. She managed a small smile at his words and she nodded before responding, sounding a bit more confident this time:  
”Yeah, okay, I'm – I'm gonna try. Thanks, Tony.”

The genius smiled at that but before he get to continue, Jarvis' voice alerted them both:  
”There is a call from Ms. Potts, sir, miss.”

Tony and Kira exchanged a brief, slightly worried, look before Tony said:  
”Let her through, J.”

 

A brief sound was being heard before the line opened and a cheerful voice greeted both geniuses, making identical smiles form onto each of their faces:  
”Hi there, Tony, Kira!”

”Hi honey!” Tony greeted and let Kira greet her too with a ”Hi Pepper!” before he continued:  
”How was the meeting? And the traffic slash the weather?”

”The meeting went well, pretty much according to the plan so nothing spectacular happened there, the traffic seems to have calmed down along with the rain. I heard from Jarvis that there had been a thunderstorm going on as I was away, so how did that go for the both of you?”

The duo exchanged a look again before Tony answered:  
”Well, that's some good news. Kira and I have been down here at the workshop pretty much the whole time, so it went pretty well, I'd say. Dummy tried to make a smoothie and guess _who_ had the pleasure to clean up the mess, _yet again_? Oh, by the way, did Jarvis send you a video earlier?”

The smile was evident in Pepper's voice when she spoke:  
”That's good to hear, your workshop really is the best place to wait out any kind of storm, Tony. And yes, Jarvis _did send_ me the video of you cleaning up the kitchenette, I watched it when we took a short break, it was very entertaining, I am proud of you, Tony.”

”Hah, I _knew_ you would enjoy seeing me do some heavy cleaning, Pepper!” Tony exclaimed, making both Kira and Pepper chuckle at his expense. He could have _sworn_ that he felt his heart swell out of happiness at the sound of both women laughing at him, thus he wasn't even trying to stop the grin from appearing onto his face. Tony took a side-eyed glance of the younger woman sitting next to him as he was now leaning his back against the table, and seeing that she was blushing slightly while smiling broadly, the smile on his own face turned a little bit more fonder.

Kira felt undoubtedly happy to be able to talk to Pepper and Tony's assumption that she liked to laugh with Pepper was confirmed right there and then.

 

”H-how long it will take b-before you are back, Pepper?” Kira asked the question where Tony wanted to know the answer too.

”I would say we'll be back home within half an hour? Have you two remembered to eat while I was gone or...?” Pepper asked, undoubtedly ready to pull over to a fast food joint if the situation called for it.

”I-I ate before I got down here, Pepper, t-thank you.” Kira answered, earning a ”That's good, how about you, Tony?” from Pepper.

”Uh, I ate a handful of dried blueberries and a sub around half an hour before Kira came here, does it count? Oh, and had a glass or two of smoothie not long ago.” Tony told his girlfriend while squirming at his place a little, and Pepper sighed at her end.

”Oh Tony... so, I'm gonna tell Happy that we're gonna stop at the drive-through–” Pepper went to say, but she was interrupted when Kira hurried to say:  
”Uh, I made some m-mac and cheese earlier and th-there should be some leftovers in the fridge if you two w-want to eat it?”

Tony hummed wonderingly and turned to look at Kira, who shrugged her better shoulder at him and granted him a tiny smile.

”We both would love to have some of your cookings, Kira, thank you.” Pepper said sincerely and Tony nodded, saying:  
”Absolutely, thanks, honey.”

”Alright, then, I'll meet you two when I get back home, okay? So for now, I let both of you to continue what you were doing before, so, bye guys, I love you both!” Pepper said as she started to wrap her call with Tony and Kira, and after hearing a ”Bye, Pepper!” and a ”See you soon, honey!” from the duo, she ended the call with a soft ”Bye-bye!”.

 

Silence fell into the workshop after the call, but it was short lived when Tony let out a sigh that threatened to turn into a yawn before he took a step ahead from the table where he had been leaning on.

”Alright, back to the work, I guess. Jarvis, give Kira all the blueprints for the Mark VI glove that you can find and prepare the machines for work, will ya.” Tony talked as he made his way back to the suit. Kira blinked, feeling surprised still that he really wanted her to remake the whole glove all by herself.

”Yes, sir.” Jarvis responded and several holograms were suddenly projected around the dumbfounded woman.

”Oh, cool.” she murmured quietly to herself before she started to read through the many documents and blueprints revolving around the glove as well as the whole Iron Man armor.

 

Our brilliant-minded, technology-loving science woman was so absorbed into her work that she promptly forgot that she was supposed to meet Pepper when she arrived, despite the valiant efforts from Tony, who had tried to get her to come with him to the upstairs three times before giving up after getting a mumbled ”In a minute...” for the third time within ten minutes. He had shaken his head good-naturedly while smiling as he exited the workshop in order to greet Pepper, knowing that he had to explain why Kira hadn't come meet her after all.

Pepper had only laughed at Tony's description of his science-absorbed friend/sister, and she stated that Tony himself was like that whenever she tried to get him out of his garage or from his workshop when he had been absorbed deep into his own work.

After the late dinner, the couple retired for the night, but not before Tony ordered Jarvis to keep an eye on Kira while she worked as neither he nor Pepper wanted anything bad to happen to her while she operated the machinery while being alone in the workshop.

Next morning, when Tony went back to the workshop, he found out, to his surprise, that Kira had stayed there the whole night as she was still occupying the same chair that she used last evening, her upper body slumped over the table, her head resting against her left arm while her right hand rested next to it while clutching what appeared to be a ¾ of an inch wrench in its hold. She also had the same blanket over her sleeping body that Tony himself often used whenever he happened to fall asleep while being in the shop, and there was no doubt as to who, or _what_ , had draped it so haphazardly over her; it had to be _the_ clumsiest robotic arm machine ever made, Dum-E, who had tried to make her feel comfortable and warm.

Tony had smiled at the sight before taking the StarkPad™ from the table where he had placed it at the last evening and turned it on. He had to blink a couple of times before he went and looked closely at the Mark VI suit because of what he read from the device. The whole suit seemed to have experienced a full upgrade, along with the right hand glove which was now attached onto the rest of the suit. The genius had then turned to look at the sleeping figure, surprise and wonder etched onto his face.


End file.
